10: School-Site Health Promotion for Staff

Students are the centerpiece of school concentrations; which they should be since they are the ones being trained to make it out in the real world. But one thing that is often overlooked is the importance of the staff. They have the tough job of prepping the environment, classes, and lessons to meet all the needs for our future leaders. It is important that schools not only meet the needs of the students, but the staff as well. Working in a school is a very demanding job, and the health of the staff needs to start being a concern. Research continues to show that school-site health promotion programs for school staff not only improve the health of the individual, but their teaching techniques and excitement towards working with the students. A school-site promotion for staff is the promotion of physical, emotional, and mental health, as well as the prevention of disease and disability among school employees. The benefits of a program can go on and on. The employee’s health behaviors and status improve, but they also save money on health care costs and employee absenteeism and improve productivity and morale. For a school-site health promotion to be successful it needs to start by having a strong leader. It also needs training, teamwork, and the ability to work with institutions of higher learning and local community providers. Teachers who become interested in their own health tend to take an interest in the health of student and to serve as health role-models.
After all the chapters, I believe that this concept might be the most important. I feel that this has the ability to affect the widest range of concepts. If you can get the staff to buy into health promotion, then they can improve how they approach the classroom, and integrate health in their class. The teacher will practice and promote health, which could have a much bigger effect then any thing else in a CSHP. When students see their role-models practicing healthy behaviors, and are continually reminded about the importance of health, then that will have a major impact on the students.